Frenchtown Houses

Back in the 1960s, Monsanto and Ralston Purina worked with the city to demolish a huge swath of the historic housing in the Frenchtown neighborhood. They agreed to leave a little pocket for posterity.

It’s a wonderful group of Second Empire and Greek Revival houses, as well as Italianate row houses. It makes me sad to think what could have easily been renovated if they had chosen to save all of those other houses, as well.

While this area was called Frenchtown, it’s now called LaSalle Park, and it was where all the famous German American businessmen lived before the Civil War.

They don’t fill in the cellars very well after they demolish houses around here!

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PATINA

Pronunciation:
\pə-ˈtē-nə, ˈpa-tə-nə\
1 a: a usually green film formed naturally on copper and bronze by long exposure or artificially (as by acids) and often valued aesthetically for its color b: a surface appearance of something grown beautiful especially with age or use; 2: an appearance or aura that is derived from association, habit, or established character; 3: a superficial covering or exterior